Poll: Dayton, DFL's 2012 chances looking good

When asked, "If there was an election for the Legislature today, do you think you would vote for the DFL or Republican candidate from your district?" 48 percent of those polled said they would vote for the Democrat and 39 percent said they would vote for the Republican.

"Voters are strongly inclined to reverse their ground from 2010 and vote Democratic this time around, "Dean Debnam, President of Public Policy Polling. In 2010, voters gave Republicans majorities in both the Minnesota House and Senate.

So-called generic polling numbers have their limits because votes for the Legislature are not state-wide elections, rather they are district by district. But the poll also found that while voters are unhappy with the current Legislature, they are more unhappy with Republicans than Democrats. In the poll, 49 percent of Minnesotans disapproved of DFL lawmakers but 62 percent disapproved of Republican lawmakers.

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, who won the 2010 election with a recount-inducing 42 percent of the vote, is also riding high, according to the poll.

Fifty-three percent of Minnesotans approve of the job he is doing, tying him for eighth most popular out of 40 governors the firm has polled.

The polling firm also tested Minnesotans feeling about the marriage amendment, which would constitutionally define marriage as only the union of one man and one woman, shoring up a state law that bans same-sex marriage.

It found that 48 percent of Minnesotans support the amendment and 44 percent do not.

Public Policy Polling is a Democratic polling firm but its public polling numbers are citing by partisans on both sides of the aisle.